Programming at the 2006 NCAA Convention includes sessions to educate athletics administrators, coaches, conference office staff, student-athletes and other delegates on a variety of topics ranging from using the Injury Surveillance System to challenges facing today’s student-athletes.

As the NCAA celebrates both its Centennial year and the 25th anniversary of NCAA women’s championships, programming will focus on the accomplishments of the Association and of women within it.

For example, one session entitled “Groundbreaking Feats of Women and Minorities in Athletics and Education” will feature guest speaker Ann Meyers-Drysdale, the only woman to be recruited by a National Basketball Association team. Drysdale also was the first woman to receive a full athletics scholarship from the University of California, Los Angeles, and the first female named to Kodak’s all-America team four consecutive seasons.

Since her athletics career ended, Meyers has worked as an analyst in the television industry. She will be joined on the panel by Anita DeFrantz, the International Olympic Committee’s first female vice president and the first woman to represent the United States on the IOC, and Linda Vollstedt, the ground-breaking former women’s golf coach and current director of golf marketing and promotions at Arizona State University.

Meyers-Drysdale also will take part in a session about the 25th anniversary of women’s championships. Judy Sweet, NCAA vice president for championships and education services, and former Baylor University and Louisiana Tech University women’s basketball coach Sonja Hogg also will participate in that session.

Another session, “Life and Work Balance: Assisting Department Members in Addressing the Challenge of Life Balance,” will focus on a topic that has been gaining momentum since the Women’s Leadership Symposium hosted by the Big Ten Conference and the Horizon League in Indianapolis last May.

Rosie Stallman, NCAA director of education outreach, said NCAA President Myles Brand asked the women attending the conference to identify major issues for them, and the topic of finding balance between work and personal life rose to the top.

While initially thought of as an issue only for women with families, the topic has broadened to include the balancing act anyone who commits to a career in athletics must undertake. The session is designed to help increase retention of staff members in coaching and administration by providing potential solutions for problems faced by those who make athletics a career. Issues including child care, flexible work schedules, elder care and job sharing will be addressed.

“This topic affects everybody,” Stallman said. “We hear life balance, and we automatically think of child care, but that’s not necessarily the case. There is elder care, and the single person who is the head athletic trainer or the head sports information director who works long hours, are affected as well. We hope to show people how they can balance their work and have a life outside of the office.”

The session also will provide people with information to nominate athletics departments as models for those who do address such “life-work balance” issues already.

“If we want to recruit and retain good people, we need to look at the model we have established for our athletics departments to see whether it is outdated,” Stallman said. “It’s not just a women’s issue.”

Bonnie Tiell, Tiffin University associate professor, will moderate the session. Panelists will include NCAA President Brand; Carol Cartwright, president of Kent State University and former chair of the NCAA Executive Committee; Claire Van Ummersen of the American Council on Education; and Roy Saigo, president of Saint Cloud State University.

Stallman said the most significant part of the session will be the opportunity for attendees to provide input on the topic by filling out a brief survey asking simple questions about individual athletics  departments.

Many of the Association-wide menu sessions will reflect the theme of the NCAA Centennial — celebrating the student-athlete. One session called “Developing Student-Athletes for Life Outside the Athletics Arena” will discuss the need for student-athletes to achieve balance in their lives, much as the life-work balance session will do for coaches and administrators. The session will help administrators and coaches learn how to advocate life beyond athletics participation for existing and new support programs.

Officials will be given a chance to evaluate their athletics departments in that area and identify NCAA resources that can help expand their student-athlete programming.

Another session will address how administrators can use Student-Athlete Advisory Committees (SAACs) to their advantage. The SAACs can be valuable resources in all divisions as well as serve as a recruiting tool for potential student-athletes.

A session entitled “Challenges Facing Today’s Student-Athletes” will examine the pressures felt by many student-athletes, including the use of anabolic steroids, hazing and its implications, mental-health stresses and the impact of sports wagering on student-athletes.

Rachel Newman-Baker, NCAA director of agent, gambling and amateurism, will provide an update on the Sports Wagering Task Force. Earlier this year, the task force released recommendations to help curtail gambling on college sports by student-athletes, including the expansion of education efforts, increasing partnerships with outside organizations and stepping up background checks on game officials.

Schedule of Association-wide programming

FRIDAY

10:30 a.m.-noon

• NCAA Injury Surveillance System: A tool for health and safety risk management and informed decision-making.

• Trends in athletics facilities.

• The senior woman administrator designation.

• Update on sports wagering.

1:30-3 p.m.

• The evolution of corporate sponsorships.

• Life-work balance: Assisting athletics department members in addressing the challenges of life balance.

• Creating a safe and secure competition venue: Risk and crisis management.

• An overview of NCAA playing-rules administration.

SATURDAY

9-10:30 a.m.

• An inside look at the NCAA: A discussion with NCAA executive directors and presidents.

10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m.

• Developing student-athletes for life outside the athletics arena.

• A session on diversity and inclusion.

• Hosting successful NCAA championships.

• The future of technology and communication.

SUNDAY

 1-2:30 p.m.

• What’s in it for me? How Student-Athlete Advisory Committees can lessen your work load.

• Groundbreaking feats of women and minorities in athletics and education.

• A look backward and forward at health, safety and performance: Key breakthroughs in sports medicine/exercise science for the student-athlete. (Presented by the American College of Sports Medicine.)

2:45-4:15 p.m.

• An update from the Presidential Task Force on the Future of Division I Intercollegiate Athletics.

• 25 years of NCAA women’s championships.

• Challenges facing today’s student-athletes.

Many of the Association-wide sessions reflect the theme of the Centennial: celebrating the student-athlete. Additional Centennial-themed programming at the Convention includes:

Friday, January 6

• The NCAA Hall of Champions begins its year-long exhibit, “A Century of Champions,” to provide perspective on the first 100 years of the NCAA.

• 8-10:30 a.m. and 2-4 p.m. — Joe Crowley will sign copies of “In the Arena: The NCAA’s First Century” — the Centennial book — at the registration booth in the Convention Center near Exhibit Hall D.

• 5-7 p.m. — NCAA “Glory Road” reception presented by the office of diversity and inclusion and the NCAA President’s Cabinet (Convention Center — 500 Ballroom).

• 6:30-10 p.m. — Screening of “Glory Road”at the Murat Theater.

Saturday, January 7

• 1:45-3 p.m.— Joe Crowley will sign copies of “In the Arena” — the Centennial book in the Convention Center at Exhibit Hall D (near the photomosaic).

• 5:30-7:30 p.m. — NCAA Honors Reception at the Murat Theater.

• 7:30-9:30 p.m. — NCAA Honors Celebration at the Murat Theater.

Sunday, January 8

• Unveiling of original artwork at the NCAA national office to commemorate the Centennial